Sony has announced a new premium device, known as the Xperia Tablet Z. Unveiled on the company's Japanese mobile site early this morning, the tablet features a number of high-end specs and, like its namesake Xperia Z smartphone, is fully waterproof.

The 10.1-inch tablet runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), and features a 1920 x 1200 display with Mobile Bravia Engine 2. The device is powered by a hefty Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 CPU, with 2 GB RAM, 32 GB of internal storage and a 6,000 mAh battery. Both NFC and LTE tech is included, as well as an 8.1-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot and Sony's “S-Force” virtual surround sound technology.

Similar to Sony's Xperia Z smartphone, the device features a slick, clean aesthetic and comes in a choice of black or white. The new tablet is also both waterproof and dustproof, giving it some serious durability credentials. There's currently no confirmed pricing or release date, but the device is expected to land in Japan in the spring.

The new tablet features a similar design to the company's flagship Xperia Z smartphone

From looks to internals, Sony's new tablet seems significantly more premium than its predecessor, and in a lot of areas, it comes out ahead of the competition. Though its display doesn't quite reach the heady heights of the Google Nexus 10's 2560 x 1600 offering, it is set to take the title of the world's thinnest and lightest 10-inch tablet, at 6.9 mm (0.26 inches) thick and weighing in at 495 g (1.09 lbs).

Tags

Chris specializes in science and consumer technology for New Atlas, but also likes to dabble in the latest gaming gadgets. He has a degree in Politics and Ancient History from the University of Exeter, and lives in Gloucestershire, UK. In his spare time you might find him playing music, following a variety of sports or binge watching Game of Thrones.

5 comments

Sign in to post a comment. Please keep comments to less than 150 words. No abusive material or spam will be published.

AustralianJanuary 22, 2013 12:37 AM

Given the size and weight and the impressive specs I can't help but wonder if the trade-off will be battery life. Time will tell!

Dave HargravesJanuary 22, 2013 04:48 PM

nope that is also the complete wrong design, its seems samsung is the closest in the correct design but still not quite right, due to lacking a very important feature. regards Freelance Eng.(designer of smartphone tech)

VirtualGathisJanuary 22, 2013 05:09 PM

@Australian
In it's favor:
Given that my TF201 uses a 3380mAh battery and lasts hours even when playing high end games a 6000mAh battery should give this a decent run time.
Possible Downsides:
The Xperia is using a different processor and chipset, the Qualcomm chips are an unknown to me as I haven't been tracking them, so it could be less efficient over and above the difference between a 1.1 and a 1.5GHz cpu.
Durability would be the thing that would make me choose this over an NVidia based tablet. Tegra4 if it meets its reported stats will stomp all over a 1.5GHz quad core so they would either need to improve the stats or make it vastly more durable to lure the high end folks in.

Pks29733steelJanuary 22, 2013 07:44 PM

After Sony's "Beta" video tape fiasco in the 70's I have yet to see them produce a product worth buying.

JmnsnowJanuary 23, 2013 12:59 PM

They are on the right track towards the best form factor for a 4th gen processor running Win8 Pro. I still think that the best tablet form factor I ever held was the NotionInk Adam. Somebody is eventually going to get it right.